Foundation issue 1

Foundation #1 »
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	February 23, 2011
Writer	John Barber
Art	Andrew Griffith
Colors	Priscilla Tramontano
Letters	Chris Mowry
Editor	Andy Schmidt
Cover	Brian Rood Andrew Griffith
Continuity	Live-action film series

Victory in the battle to save Cybertron from extinction heralds the dawn of a brand new day... and the beginning of a resentment that will shatter the Transformer race forever.

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons
Optimus (4) Deadguy (5) Cannonfodder (6) Ironhide (7) Elita-One (8) Wheeljack (9) Sentinel Prime (10)	Megatron (1) Starscream (2) Shockwave (3)

Errors

• Brian Rood's cover for this issue depicts Megatron in his Revenge of the Fallen body, rather than the first-movie body he sports in the story.

Notes

• The bulk of this issue takes the form of a flashback, set some time before the events of the earlier IDW movie prequel, Defiance. The issue contains a few callbacks to concepts introduced in that mini-series, namely that the AllSpark is powered by suns. Exactly when the bookends of the issue fall is unclear, but it appears to be after Megatron has fully turned to evil and the Autobot/Decepticon war has begun, so that would place it somewhere during Defiance itself.
• "Deadguy" and "Cannonfodder", the two generic Autobots who accompany Optimus, Ironhide and Elita into battle, had their names revealed by artist Andrew Griffith. Cannonfodder is the brownish-gold one, designed as a cross between Arcee and Bumblebee; they're both male, despite the fembot influences. Similarly, the army of Decepticons generics they clash with don't appear to be intended to "be" anybody pre-existing, though 'bots similar to Stockade and Payload are definitely in evidence.
• This issue explores the relationship that exists between Optimus and Elita-One, an emulation of the bond between Generation 1 Prime and Elita that has not been seen with the movie universe characters before now. This relationship also factors into the concurrently-published Rising Storm mini-series, including a shared theme of Elita "not telling" Optimus Prime things about herself.
• Hatchlings, previously seen in the Revenge of the Fallen movie appear here hale and hearty.
• Elita mentions "two little sisters"—coupled with what we learn in Rising Storm #1, it's obvious she's referring to Arcee and Chromia.
• Ironhide's arm-mounted cannons aren't just a personal preference—check out how lots of the Thetacons sport very similar armaments.
• Sentinel Prime is described as a descendant of the first Cybertronian, Primus. While such a description for the figure normally presented as the Transformers' god would not be without precedent, we're given pause to wonder if that was maybe supposed to say Prima, who is typically recorded in most fiction that addresses the subject as the first Cybertronian.
• Where previous movie universe comics have depicted pre-Earth Optimus Prime in the solid silverish color of his Protoform toy, this issue adds some (much-needed) traditionally Optimussy blue and red to the scheme. Similarly, the gun he is seen wielding is his Protoform toy's weapon, but with some new details and parts added to make it evoke Generation 1 Optimus Prime's ion blaster.

Covers (2)

• Cover A: Optimus Prime and Megatron by Brian Rood
• Cover RI: Optimus Prime by Andrew Griffith and Priscilla Tramontano

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